It’s that time of year when everyone talks about resolutions, goals and future plans! Do you have any?
Most people would agree that the people who have goals are more successful than those who do not have any. But that doesn’t mean that creating plans and setting goals is easy!
One of the hardest parts of goal setting, is getting clarity. You need to really understand and know what you want, in order to create goals for it!
There is a difference between leadership and management – leadership is about doing the right things while management is about doing things right. Goals are a big picture form of time management. Often when we study time management, we study efficiency (doing things right) and make the assumption that we have the effectiveness (leadership) solved. We need to have clarity for both, to get them done right!
The first step in any time management system should be to work on goals so today, we are sharing this Minute Goal Setting Exercise with you, to try and help you get it right!
- At the top of a blank piece of paper write down “values” and then spend 10 to 15 minutes writing down everything that you value. What is important to you? What do you live by?
- At the top of a blank piece of paper write down “lifetime goals.” This is where you dream. For example, what places would you like to visit; what experiences would you like to have; what would you like to accomplish within your lifetime. This might include traveling to Australia; getting a university degree; living in specific type of house, etc. There are no rules to this brainstorming – simply make a list.
- At the top of a blank piece of paper write down what you would do if you had six months to live. This part of the exercise should hit close to home for those of us entering 2022. It’s been a very difficult two years for us. Some of us have lost people very close to us and some of us may only have six months to live. we don’t know what life is going to throw at us this year. List everything that you would do if you had only six months to live. Part of the purpose of this exercise is that it brings the truly important into focus. We often find things we would do if we had only six months to live that are not listed in our lifetime goals. It makes you re-think your priorities!
- At the top of a blank piece of paper write down your goals for this year. After doing the first three steps, you will find this step much easier than the others. These are the goals to focus on NOW.
This total exercise will only take an hour. An hour spent clarifying your goals can save you hundreds of hours.
